Death toll in Vietnam rises to 197 after typhoon causes flash floods and landslides

HANOI, Vietnam — Nearly 200 people have died and more than 125 are missing in Vietnam following Typhoon Yagi as flash floods and landslides take their toll, state media reported on Thursday.

The Vietnamese newspaper VNExpress reported that 197 people had died and 128 were still missing, while more than 800 were injured.

Although the Red River's floodwaters receded somewhat in the capital, many areas were still flooded.

In Hanoi's Tay Ho district, people waded through knee-deep muddy brown water to get along a road, some still wearing their bicycle and motorcycle helmets after abandoning their vehicles along the way.

Some paddled along the road in small boats as empty water bottles, a Styrofoam cooler and other flotsam floated by; one man pushed his motorcycle toward drier ground in an aluminum sloop.

Pedestrians pulled their shorts up as high as possible to avoid getting wet from the wake of a delivery truck that was making its way through the water.

Yagi was the strongest typhoon to hit the Southeast Asian country in decades, making landfall on Saturday with winds of up to 149 km/h. Although it weakened on Sunday, heavy rains continued and rivers remain dangerously high.

Floods in Hanoi were reportedly the worst in two decades and led to widespread evacuations.

The death toll rose sharply earlier this week when a flash flood washed away the entire village of Lang Nu in the northern Vietnamese province of Lao Cai on Tuesday.

Hundreds of rescue workers worked tirelessly to search for survivors on Wednesday, but as of Thursday morning, 53 villagers were still missing, while seven more bodies had been found, bringing the death toll to 42, according to VNExpress.

Most of the deaths were caused by floods and landslides, many of them in the northwestern province of Lao Cai on the border with China, where Lang Nu is located. The popular trekking destination of Sapa is also located in Lao Cai province.

On Monday, a bridge collapsed and a bus was swept away by the flood, killing dozens of people.

In Phu Tho province, the steel bridge over the flooded Red River collapsed, sending ten cars and trucks and two motorcycles plunging into the river. The bus carrying 20 people was swept into a flooded river by a landslide in the mountainous province of Cao Bang.

Experts say storms like Typhoon Yagi are becoming more severe due to climate change because warmer ocean waters are providing them with more energy, leading to stronger winds and heavier rainfall.

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Rising reported from Bangkok.